Conversations
by Patomac
Summary: Sydney has a talk with her friend after different episodes.
1. The Two

Title: Conversations Author: Patomac Rating: PG-13, and that's way overprotective. Just a little talk of slitting throats in later chapters (smile) Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I don't own Alias. Kindly don't rub it in! Kat's mine though, so nobody steal her! Summary: Sydney talks to an old friend after different episodes. AN: This is my first thing on FF.net, so be nice! This is an episode reaction from what the chapter is titled after. Only it's in fic form.  
  
The Two  
  
"You did what?" Kat choked on her Pepsi.  
  
"Shh! Keep it down!" Sydney whispered. The pair were starting to attract stares in the small restaurant. "Some spy you are Volkonov. You can't even blend into the background."  
  
"That's because I was born to stand out," she leaned back against her chair. "I was taught later how to blend in." Kat chuckled lightly to herself, while Sydney only rolled her eyes and took a bite of her sandwich.  
  
"Still you've got to admit, that was one of you, um, less intelligent uses of your talents. If pressed, some might consider it idiotic," Kat also took a bite of her sandwich casually.  
  
"I recall hearing about you doing something just like it once."  
  
"Since when did you start taking after me?"  
  
"I can't take after you, I'm older!" Sydney smiled widely, but Kat shook her head.  
  
"What's your point? I recall being in a certain company a lot longer than you were. And three years age is not that big of a difference."  
  
"It is when it makes you 28 and me 31." Sydney ignored Kat, who was rolling her eyes. "And I had a point in going against the CIA, unlike some people I know."  
  
"Yes, I do suppose your vendetta was a bit more justified than mine. You saved your father, and I was attempting to spite the CIA.  
  
Sydney nodded. "I can not believe you got away with that." Kat only smiled. "I also can't believe they locked up my father."  
  
Kat acquired the solemnness that had been in Sydney's voice. "I don't want to think about it much, but they have done it before."  
  
"But then it was..."  
  
"If your going to say it was different, nice try, but it was the exact same thing."  
  
Sydney just looked at her blankly. "Don't be mad at me, Syd. You were the one who called me because you needed to talk. I got leave and flew across the country, so the least you could do is listen to me when I have something important I think you need to hear." Sydney softened a small bit. "Look, Sydney, I'm sorry. You don't want my pity, but I saw the ruins of your house when it was burned two years ago. I went to you funeral. It was absolutely heart breaking. I hated adding you to the list of friends I've lost in this business. I absolutely hated it.  
  
Sydney looked down and finally spoke. "I guess I should be thankful I had one person left to call. I haven't seen you in a year, three years. I expected you to change like all the rest, so it wouldn't have killed me."  
  
Kat nodded. "A month or a decade is basically the same in my world. As long as we've been apart, you can expect me to be treading water in the same place. Probably forever."  
  
The two girls met eyes, reaching a mutual understanding. "You remember my handler Michael Vaughn? We were dating. In fact, I thought we were in love."  
  
Kat smiled briefly before she caught it. "You said 'were.'"  
  
"He's... he's... Vaughn is married," Sydney choked on the words.  
  
"Oh no." Kat pulled her chair around to the other side of the table to wrap an arm around her friend who was almost sobbing. But Sydney quickly reined the tears back in.  
  
"You should probably get back to D.C. I don't want your boss to kill me," she rubbed the corner of her eye and smiled.  
  
"I guess so." It was obvious that Kat didn't want to leave Sydney alone like this, but she also didn't want to crowd her. 'As she wishes,' was Kat's silent thought before she said goodbye. "Remember, Sydney, I'll always be here."  
  
Sydney nodded, and Kat dissolved into the crowd leaving the cafe. 'Like the spy she is,' Sydney thought. 


	2. Succession

Succession  
  
"Boy, it was lucky I came by when I did. If I wasn't there, what would you have done?" Kat and Sydney were back together again. This time they were walking through the park pointlessly.  
  
"I don't know, all Lauren Reed said was 'you should also know I'm Michael Vaughn's wife' and I completely froze. That and the fact that she's investigating the person I murdered does not help."  
  
"That's not good. Wait a minute, did you just say 'murdered?'"  
  
"Yes. My father, he showed me a tape of Sark's father being assassinated. It was me. I did it. I slit his throat."  
  
"This can't be easy for you."  
  
"You have no idea. And Dixion, my partner Dixion, he wants me to meet with a therapy group. He should know that I can't be around all the sob stories. It is so depressing."  
  
"I can't stand being around people like that." They walked a couple feet in silence before Kat spoke again. "I can feel perfectly comfortable telling you this because you are not one of those people. I know very well you won't take this sitting down. You're going to find who did this to you." Kat sat down on the bench they were passing, and Sydney followed suit.  
  
"Why are you still in L.A. anyway? And why do you act like a ghost?" Sydney asked, turning to face her friend.  
  
Kat shrugged. "My business down here was extended. I prefer that not many in the CIA know I'm around because I will not get a moment's peace, even three years after I quit. Truth is, I wouldn't even have been in headquarter, except I really needed a way to contact my brother while he's on operation."  
  
Understanding Kat was a futile effort; Sydney had decided that long ago. So she let it drop with a shake of her head.  
  
"I hear your father was in contact with your mother."  
  
To normal people, that would not be a strange statement. But for the Bristow's, it was an entirely different matter. "Where did you hear that?" Sydney asked.  
  
"Then it's true," Kat raised her eyebrows.  
  
"I didn't say that."  
  
"You might as well have."  
  
Sydney knew she was backed into a corner, so she answered the question. "He contacted her to find out information on who captured me."  
  
Kat made no comment, but stared straight ahead. "Kat?"  
  
"I've got to get back to work. I have a meeting in an hour." She stood up and started to walk away. Then she turned back suddenly. "Take care of yourself."  
  
"And your family." 


	3. Reunion

Reunion  
  
Sydney felt rather than heard or saw a person behind her as she walked to her car. First instinct was to turn around and fight, but instead she merely smiled. "Hello Kat."  
  
"Howdy," Kat stepped out of the shadows and immediately fell in stride with Sydney. "How's life these days?"  
  
"Confusing." Syd pulled out her keys and unlocked the car door.  
  
Kat walked around to the other side. "How so?"  
  
Sydney got in the car, and Kat stepped into her side. "Well, the week started out really bad. And now it's a little better."  
  
"What made it better?"  
  
"Weiss was so sweet. He bought me a third edition of Alice in Wonderland because the gift from my mother was destroyed in the fire. Actually, he's been my salvation all week."  
  
"That's good. So how's Vaughn's wife?"  
  
"This is the problem with my life," Sydney turned the keys in the ignition a little over zealously. "Nothing is clear-cut, nothing is simple. I mean look at the facts: I work for the CIA. Oh, wait, I don't. I actually work for a group of terrorists pretending to be the CIA. My mother died when I was six. No, try again. She's still living and is currently a fugitive from the U.S. government. And just to top it all of, I'm dead. But like that finality could ever happen. I'm alive, kicking, and absolutely miserable." She rested her head against the steering wheel and closed her eyes.  
  
"On the bright side," Kat commented, "it would make a good T.V. show."  
  
Sydney lifted her head and just looked at Kat. The sheer pain in her eyes spoke volumes.  
  
"Syd, I know it seems bad, but it will get better. You think life can't get any worse, and no one could ever understand the pain you're going through. You won't even believe those who have. But please, believe me."  
  
Sydney lifted her head to look up at Kat. Her face simply said, 'prove it.'  
  
"I can't give you details. Not because I don't want to, but because I can't. Basically, it was a disagreement with my friend. I know it doesn't sound like much, but it was a life-altering decision for her and myself. And she made the wrong one. I don't know if she's even alive today because she made her choice, and I did absolutely nothing to stop it." Sometime during this speech, Kat's eyes had gone out of focus and reflective. Then she returned to the present and rested them on Syd. "In this entire time I talked to absolutely no one. It kept hurting more and more everyday. I don't want anyone to have to go through the pain and suffering of something like that. Not alone."  
  
Sydney sat up to lean back against her seat. "Vaughn's wife... Lauren is... I don't know. I can't figure her out. One minute we're fighting, the next it's like she's trying to be friends with me." Syd stared out into space for a minute, and then she laughed.  
  
"What is so funny?"  
  
"My father, he asked me the same thing about Lauren Reed."  
  
"So...?"  
  
"He said he 'wasn't interested in interoffice gossip.'"  
  
"I can't even imagine your father and gossip in the same sentence." Kat chuckled lightly. "See? You can already find some humor."  
  
"I guess so. But he was really concerned with Lazarey's murder. They haven't figured it out yet. My father managed to corrupt the file from a the camera in the office."  
  
"Are you any closer to figuring out where you were?"  
  
"No. Absolutely nowhere. You'd think we would at least be getting closer, but it's so distant from now. I know that Lazarey was Sark's father, and he left Sark a very large amount of money. The covenant needed that money. I killed Lazarey."  
  
"So," Kat continued, following the pattern, "it follows logically that the covenant hired you. Any evidence to support that theory?"  
  
"There was a man in that club who was torturing those agents they captured. Before he died, he said, 'you were my favorite. You never broke.'"  
  
"I say that's a good reason. I'm assuming that the CIA has no idea about any of this."  
  
"Of course not. Showing them proof the Covenant captured me would mean showing them the video. And there's something else I haven't even told my father yet." Sydney lifted the bottom of her shirt to reveal a small scar on the side of her abdomen.  
  
"Was this new when you got back?"  
  
"Yes. I have no idea where it could have come from."  
  
Kat looked closer. "On a rough guess, it looks comparable to some torture methods I'm familiar with. It bears a resemblance to something else, but I'll have to check on some things first. I've got to go."  
  
Kat got out of the car. "Oh, and by the way," she leaned down to look Sydney in the eye. "I've been checking some old contacts for intel. So far nothing."  
  
"Thanks for trying," Syd smiled briefly.  
  
"Stay strong, Bristow." And with that, she walked away, leaving Sydney's car alone in the parking garage. 


	4. A Missing Link

A Missing Link  
  
"Thanks for coming."  
  
"Anytime, Syd." Kat was standing in the doorframe of Sydney's apartment. Sydney moved aside and she stepped into the room.  
  
"Do you want some coffee? Tea? Hot chocolate? It's kind of cold out there," Sydney asked nervously, wringing her hands out.  
  
"Are you feeling all right? This is L.A.," she took off her hat and set it on the counter, "and I was born in Siberia. Northern Siberia."  
  
Sydney nodded mutely and turned to face the stove. Kat sat down behind the counter and watched for a second before she spoke.  
  
"There's a reason you called me here."  
  
Sydney whirled around to face her friend. "Isn't there always? When you said you were checking your contacts, did you hear anything about a Julia?"  
  
Kat's eyes clouded over with confusion. "Maybe a cross reference. Does this have something to do with your missing two years?"  
  
Sydney leaned on the counter across from Kat. "When I was on a mission in Sevilla, I met a man who called me 'Julia.' I've never seen him before. His name is Simon Walker."  
  
"Covenant. I don't know much about him."  
  
"The CIA has me working as a double again."  
  
Kat's eyebrows shot up. "Isn't that a little soon? I mean, you just got out of SD-6, in your mind, a few months ago."  
  
"It's fine. They've got me on a team that's in charge of a second job of biochemical weapons. I've already been nearly caught twice."  
  
"No pressure then," Kat laughed to herself then gained a straight face. "It's rough, but if you're asking for intel, I have none. Remember, since I quit the agency, I've tried to stay out of the spy game. I must have tons of contacts in the older agencies, but the covenant is a new player. I don't know much about them."  
  
Sydney walked around to the other side of the counter and sat down. She leaned forward onto her elbows. "I am so screwed," she stated calmly.  
  
Kat raised an eyebrow. "Why's that?"  
  
"Because my dad told Dixion about Lazarey's murder." Kat's face became unreadable as she analyzed the statement.  
  
"To keep it out of NSC hands, correct?"  
  
"Why am I not surprised at the length of time it took you to figure that out?" Kat opened her mouth to respond, but Sydney cut her off. "Never mind. The thing about this situation is that I want to know so bad it's absolutely killing me inside. I've almost turned myself in so I can recover those memories. But I don't because my father keeps telling me not to. And it's convincing. It's..." she trailed off contemplatively.  
  
"Like he's speaking from experience?" Kat asked quietly. Sydney gave her a questioning look. "Okay, I have not read every file on his record or even claim to know him very well at all. But I've met the man. There's nothing he'll oppose more than something that he's been through. I could be way, way overstretching, but I've seen the tendency."  
  
Sydney didn't even want to consider those possibilities. "Back to the double thing. I think I've already messed it up."  
  
"You've been on assignment for three days. How's that even possible?"  
  
"The mission was to get the formula and stick a tracker to it so we could steal it back from them. I put the tracker on Vaughn when I stabbed him."  
  
"You did what?" Kat exclaimed. Her eyes had gone wide in shock, which was not any easy emotion to get out of her.  
  
"Another unfortunate part of my mission. Vaughn was found out, and I had to stab him in the stomach to probe my loyalties. He's recovering in the hospital now," Syd finished tiredly.  
  
Kat looked her straight in the eye. "You saved his life. You don't deserve to have to make that much effort to not let your voice crack when you say 'I stabbed him.'"  
  
"I know. But I do."  
  
"Well, look at it this way," Kat reached out and patted her friend reassuringly on the shoulder. "It can't get much worse, can it?"  
  
"Thank you. Now you've just invited it to." She smiled lightly.  
  
Kat shrugged and stood up. "Now you're paranoid." She grabbed her hat off the corner and walked towards the door, turning back as she opened it.  
  
"Good luck, Sydney." 


	5. Repercussions

Repercussions  
  
"Fancy meeting you here," Kat strolled down the aisle of the bus and sat down next to Sydney.  
  
"What are you doing her?" Syd asked in exasperation. This was one to many coincidences for a month.  
  
"Using the Los Angeles public transportation system. And yourself?"  
  
"My car broke down," Sydney mumbled.  
  
"That sucks," Kat said mildly.  
  
"So does the rest of my life," Syd sighed.  
  
"Aww... poor baby. What's wrong?"  
  
Sydney gave Kat the evil eye.  
  
"Seriously, what's wrong?"  
  
The softer tone Kat used the second time must have had some effect. "I keep seeing them kissing." Who they were, was not a question. "And Lauren wanted me to submit for a transfer, until we got in a car chase when she was at the wheel, and now Sloane could be a double agent." Sydney took a breath. "Now I'm confused."  
  
Kat nodded. "So am I." But you're right. She was out of line. What about a car chase and a double agent?"  
  
"Sloane escaped, and we were driving after him. Lauren's completely lost it. She did some stuff that was highly dangerous. She's a crazy woman."  
  
"Oh, come on, I'm sure it's nothing I haven't done before."  
  
"Yes, but you're field rated. Lauren's not."  
  
"Yeah, that would be important." Sydney mimicked Kat with a sarcastic nod.  
  
"Sloane may be a double agent. It's a classic scenario."  
  
"Explain," Kat deadpanned.  
  
"I was betraying him for two years I worked under him. Now he has the chance to do the same to me."  
  
Kat just shook her head. "But you can't do anything about it. Just let it go." The bus rolled to a stop on a street corner. "I've got to go. This is my stop. Catch some terrorists for me, will ya?"  
  
Sydney rolled her eyes.  
  
"Oh, absolutely." 


	6. The Nemesis

The Nemesis  
  
"Got here as fast as I could. What's up?" The question found Kat looking expectantly at Sydney.  
  
"Wow, that was fast," Syd checked her watch. "I just called you four minutes and thirty-seven seconds ago."  
  
Kat sat down across the table. "What can I say? I was in the neighborhood."  
  
"How many traffic laws did you break?" Syd asked suspiciously.  
  
Kat dismissed it with a wave of her hand. "Offhand? I'd say fourteen. The police still can't figure out where I went. But enough about the car chase, what's going on?"  
  
"Allison's alive," Sydney said unemotionally.  
  
Kat's eyes widened then narrowed. "How's that even possible?"  
  
"I don't know. I really don't know. I shot her three times, for goodness sake. And then with the armed guard... It's like Weiss said. Maybe she is a werewolf."  
  
"Armed guard?"  
  
"We were in Sofia. I caught up to her and we fought. Then I shot her. The EMT's said she barely had a pulse. And then we found the ambulance and guard completely destroyed. I know it's crazy, irrational even, but I believe Allison did that herself. Without anyone's help.  
  
"It is a little unlikely," Kat admitted reluctantly, "but the whole double situation in general is irrational to those who don't know the truth."  
  
"Seeing Allison... hurts," Sydney closed her eyes. "It hurts me so much. She still has Francie's face. She still looks exactly like my best friend. And all I want to do is kill her, just absolutely get rid of her for once and for all."  
  
Kat nodded. "It's understandable."  
  
Sydney opened her eyes. "Is it? Is it really? How many people want to kill their best friends murderer?"  
  
"Me."  
  
Sydney raised an eyebrow, but didn't reply to that. "And I found out the Covenant's agents have been ordered not to kill me. They need something in my memory."  
  
"How'd you find this out?"  
  
"Sloane. I was on come with him and made him ask where I was. Allison and Sark don't know."  
  
"Why were you in charge of Sloane's comm?"  
  
"I'm his handler."  
  
"Have the CIA lost their minds?"  
  
Sydney laughed darkly. "You don't think I'll do a good job?"  
  
"No. I just think even a person like Sloane deserves a handler they can trust. Dixion's a fool not to see that."  
  
"Why do you think this?" Syd gritted her teeth angrily.  
  
"Do you trust Vaughn with your life?"  
  
"Yes, but that's..."  
  
"No, it's not. You trusted Vaughn to keep you alive in the dangerous position of a double agent. Sloane doesn't have the advantage. What's going to happen to him?"  
  
"I don't care what happens to him!" Sydney said harshly.  
  
"Think of the mission."  
  
"Nothing will happen if Sloane dies." She stressed.  
  
Kat decided to switch gears. "I had a handler once that I was unable to get along with. It turned out that our lack of communication missed something I should've known. But I didn't."  
  
"What happened?" Sydney asked softly.  
  
Kat pulled back a piece of hair. "Do you see this scar?" she pointed to a long, pink thread running from her ear to her collar bone. Sydney nodded.  
  
Kat let her hair fall back in place and gracefully stood up. "Promise me you'll consider it."  
  
Sydney nodded again.  
  
"I will." 


End file.
